The Road To: Multiplication

On the Road to: Multiplication

Multiplication?  What does this have to do with a devotional, or a blog about prayer?  Well, have you ever asked God to help you extend your resources to achieve something?  Resources can be lots of things, e.g., money sure, but also your time or your energy. This is the season of Stewardship, of course, and multiplication is a factor (no pun intended 😉).  But let’s dig deeper as we consider multiplication. 

Consider prayer as a multiplier.  Our prayers for others multiply the benefit to the subject of the prayer. That person benefits by God hearing and responding, plus they know they are cared for by others like you and me.  And, don’t we sometimes feel better having prayed for someone else?

Is multiplication a responsibility?

This is my Father’s world

1 This is my Father's world,
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas--
His hand the wonders wrought.

2 This is my Father's world:
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their Maker's praise.
This is my Father's world:
He shines in all that's fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass,
He speaks to me everywhere.

Read the words and listen to this classic hymn.  Can you hear the melody?  If not, here’s a link to a contemporary version by Amy Grant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5rZx-iogyg 

Did you know (some fun facts)?

Maltbie D. Babcock (b. Syracuse, NY, 1858; d. Naples, Italy, 1901) wrote the text for this hymn as a poem in sixteen stanzas of four lines each. He graduated from Syracuse University, New York, and Auburn Theological Seminary and became a Presbyterian minister. Babcock served as a minister at The Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City (founded in 1808 and now just a few blocks from the Guggenheim Museum) Look it up on Google!.  Babcock wrote many hymn texts, devotionals and poems. The tune is TERRA BEATA, Latin for “beautiful world,” and was originally a traditional English folk tune. Some hymnals, such as the Presbyterian Hymnal and The Psalter Hymnal used to include only two verses. There are a number of variations in how the phrases are arranged. . . [some hymnals] end verse two with, “He trusts us with His world, to keep it clean and fair – all earth and trees, all skies and seas, His hand the wonders wrought.” 
source: hymnary.org

“He trusts us with His world;” so, is this really about responsibility? 

Have you thought about this in relation to stewardship?  In relation to responsibility?  In relation to privilege?  Or, in relationship to yourself, your family, your friends, or to God?

God trusts us with his world.  That’s an awesome responsibility! Is this blog post a stewardship message?  Maybe it is, but it’s beyond that. Think about this as a focus on responsibility. God has entrusted us with His world!

What does multiplication and responsibility mean to you in this context? (Please comment below)

Praying for you,

PB

Community Presbyterian Church
32202 Del Obispo
San Juan Capistrano. CA 92675
949-493-1502 
info@sjcpres.org